


Speaking of Weddings

by Ayami (Syrica)



Series: Setleth Week 2019 [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Post-Game, Secretly Dating, Talking About Marriage, assume the relevant spoilers therein, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21931081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrica/pseuds/Ayami
Summary: Byleth and Seteth promised to announce their marriage only after things have begun to calm down in Post-War FódlanWell, things are starting to get pretty stable
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Series: Setleth Week 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577923
Comments: 12
Kudos: 74





	Speaking of Weddings

**Author's Note:**

> Setleth Week Day 2: Traditions

The queen and her prime minister were taking afternoon tea in the center of the gardens, not an unusual sight at the monastery. Most who walked by simply assumed the the two were discussing work matters and exchanging pleasantries- a natural assumption given their stations. And indeed, they often did speak of greater matters, but to them it was one of the few romantic things they could get away with in public- their little tea dates.

“Oh, I haven’t told you!” Byleth said, setting her cup down on its saucer in order to scrounge around in the satchel hanging off the back of her seat, “The First Division survey party’s latest report came in this morning.”  
Seteth’s eyes grew and he nearly choked on his tea. “Flayn’s division?” 

After the war ended, they were in dire need of information regarding the state of the more remote regions of Fódlan before they could even think about planning its restoration. In an effort to collect intelligence, they sent out parties to survey the state of the content. 

Flayn _jumped_ at the chance to see the world for herself, immediately volunteering to lead the very first one. Seteth naturally wanted to object but he _had_ promised to rein in on his protectiveness once the war ended, and he was not about to go back on his word. As a compromise to spare her farther some sleepless nights, she let him hand select some of the other members of the party. She was accompanied by Linhardt, Hilda, and Felix, as well as some other knights of Seiros.

“Well? What does she say?” Seteth said, eagerly waiting for news from his daughter.

“Now, now, it’s a _report_ , not a letter…” Byleth teased. “She says they checked up on the eastern villages that were sent emergency supplies a few weeks ago, and confirmed they had indeed received them. They took out a few traveling bandits on the wa-”

As much as he tried to contain himself, Seteth’s eyes clearly betrayed the worry he felt at the news that Flayn had been in a fight. Byleth reached out across the table to take his hand. “She’s _strong_ , Seteth.”

Seteth squeezed her hand appreciatively before withdrawing it, not wanting for passers by to see and begin asking questions. “No one knows that better than I. Still, even after all this time, I cannot help but fret.”

Byleth nodded in understanding, waiting a moment for him to collect himself before continuing.  
“She says they should be returning to the monastery… soon! I think?” Byleth quickly did the math in her head, “5 days I believe.”  
Seteth nearly stood up from his seat before thinking better of it and settling back down, resulting in him just shaking the table a bit.

“Seteth, you must be… we haven’t seen her in-”

“Three moons, two weeks, five days.” he finished, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. It may have been just a blip in the timeline of his long life, but it certainly felt like an entirety to be separated from the one he held so close for so long. “I must ready her room! I m- we- do you think the cathedral repairs will be finished in five days’ time?”

Byleth was taken aback by the seemingly sudden change in subject, “I… should hope so. They were supposed to be done _last_ week.” She answered with a hint of old annoyance in her voice. “Why the cathedral?” 

“She told me before she left,” he let out a shaky chuckle, “that she wished to inspect the relief of Saint Cethleann herself when she returned.”

Byleth laughed into the cup she had raised to her mouth, “That sounds just like her. Well the decorative elements are the last to be added so that we can go back to using it for service and other things as quickly a possible so… we’ll see. It’s likely I think.”

They sat silent for a moment before they both tried to speak at once. 

“Set-”

“Byleth, I -”

They laughed together before Byleth put down her cup, “You go ahead.”

Seteth nodded and traced the edge around his tea cup, “I believe it has been quite some time since our engagement”  
Byleth grinned, knowing where this was going.   
“Flayn will be here for a time and the cathedral is nearly ready to be used in its full capacity once more… It may be time to make an announcement, don’t you agree?”

Byleth smiled and nodded, then moving her hand up to her high collar she began digging for something around her neck, “Then I guess it’s a good time to do this.”

Seteth watched uncomprehending as she pulled out a necklace with what looked to be a circular charm at the base of it

“Byleth, is that a-?”

“It was my father’s.”

“Oh.” Seteth didn’t know much else to say, worrying that he would stumble upon a sore subject regarding Byleth’s late father.

“My father” Byleth began, “he told me to give this ring to the person I love. And, well, you beat me to it the first time so I’ve been saving it for this.”

A light blush bloomed on Seteth’s face as he watched her next;

Holding her hair up with one hand she deftly unhooked the clasp at the back of the cord with the other. Carefully she slid the ring off, putting the rest of the necklace in her pocket and keeping the ring between her fingers.

Finally rising from her seat, she slowly walked around the table up to where he was sitting, raising her hand when he began to stand up to signal him to remain seated. Seteth settled back down and gazed upwards at Byleth, not even bothering to control the grin was making its way onto his face.

Suddenly Byleth dropped to one knee in front of him and his eyes quickly shot open from their previous contented state, suddenly very aware of where they were.

“Byleth! This is a very _public_ pl-” he quickly stammered out before promptly being silenced by the feeling of his beloved softly taking one of his hands into her own.  
Byleth chuckled at the sight of his eyes growing wide as she brought the back of his hand up to her lips, kissing it gently.

“Seteth?” She asked softly.

“Mh hm?” He managed out, not breaking eye contact for a moment.

“You’re heart, my guiding star, and you make me so very happy.” She nuzzled his hand, not letting him move from her even an inch. Not that he _could_ , at the moment he was far to entranced with the normally stoic professor pouring out her affections in front of him. She pulled back enough to look him in the eye. “Would you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

Seteth let out a breathless laugh before answering, “Of course, my love.”

Byleth surprised him for second time by letting go of his hand to jump up from her lowered position and press an enthusiastic kiss to his lips.   
“Here, give me your finger then.” She said after pulling away.  
Seteth gladly offered his hand back to her and Byleth was pleasantly surprised at how easily the ring slipped onto his ring finger, given that it was sized for someone else.

It took a few seconds to realize there were quite a few people stopped in the gardens, gaping at the couple.  
“I suppose we ought to make that announcement now, huh?” She said sheepishly.  
“Indeed.” He said not taking his eyes off of her.

* * *

“I’m glad I can finally stay here without having to wake up in the middle of the night to sneak back to my room” Byleth yawned as she wrapped her arms around her fiancé’s waist, gently resting her head on his chest.   
It wasn’t too late at night but, after making the official announcement of their engagement and answering the wave of ensuing questions, they were exhausted and the idea of retiring early and snuggling up into Seteth’s bed was too appealing.  
From her position she could feel the rumble in his chest as he chucked, and the comfortable warmth that radiated through her in response confirmed to her this was indeed a very good idea.

“I am glad as well.” He replied, sounding noticeably drowsy, succumbing to the warmth of his fiancée’s body.   
“ _Goddess_ ,” He sighed, rubbing his eyes with the hand that wasn’t holding her, “how did we go this long pretending our relationship was professional? I feel as if my heart will break if I do not embrace you every time lay eyes on you now.”

“You… adorable _sap_.” She exhaled a laugh, “Well, we don’t have to pretend anymore, so I’m going to hug you as much as I like.” She said, emphasizing her point by squeezing him tightly.

“I will resolve to do the same, my love.” The arm he had around Byleth made its way upwards from her shoulder to her face, his thumb finding a steady rhythm in stroking her cheek. He lent down to place a kiss on the top of Byleth’s head and immediately Byleth melted, burring her face in his collar and mumbling something against it that Seteth couldn’t quite make out.

“What was that?” He asked through a yawn. She removed her face from its burrowing spot and shifted so that she could sit at eye level with him.

“Can I call you my husband now or do I have to wait until after the ceremony?” She repeated, this time with her mouth uncovered by Seteth’s shirt. She traced idle patterns on his chest awaiting his answer.

Seteth scrunched his eyebrows while considering her question, “It would not technically be correct, no. However, I can recall no rule specifically _against_ it…” 

Byleth mustered as much of a pout as she could. “Fine, I’ll _wait_. ” she blew a strand of hair out of her face, “Any rules I _should_ know about?”

He paused a moment, sitting up straight so that he could place his hands on her shoulders “Hold a moment. Byleth?” 

She gave him a mildly confused look. “Hm?” 

“What, if anything, do you know about marriage ceremonies in the Church?”

She tilted her head, trying to recall, “I know it takes a long time and there’s a priest involved… Remember, I knew next to nothing about the Church until a few years ago.” She finished by way of explanation.

Seteth sighed. “I am so sorry Byleth I should have foreseen this.” He leaned close to brush his lips against hers apologetically. “Forgive me, as someone as familiar with the church as I am, I should have-”  
Byleth silenced him with another kiss. “No need to apologize. You can talk about weddings with me right now if you would like? I’m listening.”

Seteth sighed, placated, and leaned back. “I would love nothing more than to speak of weddings with my bride.” He paused a moment, trying to figure out where to begin. “Before the wedding, we ought to be fitted with the appropriate regalia. They are both… quite heavy ensembles and take several people to assist with the dressing.”

“Regalia?” Byleth repeated.

“Yes. Wedding outfits, if you will. They are at the simplest level, robes with many more layers of cloth shawls and metal pieces arranged on top, hence the need for assistance. The idea is that as the ceremony progresses, the couple trades pieces of regalia. Each piece is symbolic in its own way.” Seteth moved his hands in tandem with his speech so as to gesture at where each piece would be on his own body, “For example, trading cloaks is seen as a vow to protect each other’s backs. Breastplates symbolize holding one another’s hearts.”

Byleth nodded, indicating she was following along as he continued, 

“Those are some of the more obvious ones, of course, there are others with more obscure meanings such as trading headpieces to symbolize loyalty through sickness and health, gloves for devotion, belts for fertility-”

Byleth snickered, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hands, her elbows resting on the bed in front of her, “I don’t think that one is obscure _at all_.”

“Byleth, _please_.” Seteth scolded, but biting back a smile nonetheless.

“So I have to remove your belt in front of other people?” She teased.

“You will remove your _own_ belt, and subsequently trade it with mine. If you would like, I can remove yours at a later time.” Before Byleth could register exactly what he just said, Seteth continued forward, “There are twelve pieces in total- one for every moon of the year- each to be traded at the end of a round of hymns and prayer.”

“ _Twelve_?” Byleth echoed, beginning to do the mental math to estimate how long the ceremony would last before Seteth stepped in.  
“Each cycle should not take too long... two to five minutes for each hymn in my estimate. The entire thing does not usually last more than a little over an hour. Truly, it is the reception that drags on for a bit.”

Byleth nodded in understanding, settling back down.

“There is also the matter of-” Seteth stopped mid sentence, expression contorting between uncomfortable and saddened. Byleth noticed he was anxiously rubbing at the ring on his finger.   
Finally, he took a breath and looked her directly in the eye.  
“Traditionally, the bride is escorted down the isle of the chapel by her father, however that is-”

“Not really an _option_?” Byleth finished for him. 

Seteth nodded slowly. 

Byleth looked down in silence for a good minute before asking, “Can I… have a substitute? Alois, he’s- I once told him he was like a father to me, and he looked like he was pretty pleased with that designation.”

Seteth broke out into a sweet smile. “ _Of course._ That is a wonderful idea. I am sure he would love to escort you.”

“I think he would start crying.” 

He chuckled, “Even better.” 

After a moment’s quite, Byleth wrapped an arm around Seteth’s, giving it a squeeze. “I… I wish he were here. My dad, I mean.”   
Seteth went to cover her hand with his own supportively as she continued, “I don’t know if he would’ve even- he probably wouldn’t be all too happy that it was you I was marrying. Being from the Church and Rhea’s advisor and all...”  
Seteth remained still, unsure of what to say in the moment. Byleth filled the void,  
“Do you think he did the… the clothes tr- the regalia thing? When he married my mom?”

Seteth considered this, “He must have, your mother was a nun was she not?”

Byleth nodded, “That’s what I hear.” She exhaled a shaky laugh, “You know what? I don’t think he _could_ say anything about my marrying someone from the Church when he did the same.”

It was at that point Seteth made a sound that resembled a laugh and a groan at the same time, and Byleth looked up at him, very confused.  
“Forgive me… I mean no disrespect to the dead nor your father but, there is no doubt in my mind that he made the same observation about the belt as you did.”

Byleth’s solemn face cracked and she began laughing. “I think you’re right. That’s _my_ family’s tradition then. We Eisners marry from the cloth and take their belts.”

“ _Goddess_ ” Seteth scoffed, “I am sorry my love, but that is the silliest string of words I have heard in a very long time.”

“Yeah? Well, get used to it, you’re marrying me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Seteth didn’t get to it because they got distracted by being dorks, but his wedding tradition checklist does explicitly include consummation and he would’ve 100% referred to it as such


End file.
